CITY - Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - 06:00 p.m. (ET) - Segment #3

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she is the same as every other child that is a canadian citizen and has the same rights, including, not limited to but including the right to travel, to have a passport. There is no legitimate reason why she should be held back from travelling simply because of a clerical error that C.I.C. made. >> Pat: and as always, if you have an issue, story or question you'd like us to look into, reach out to us by visiting the speakers corner tab on the "CityNews" website. Pat taney, "CityNews." >> Cynthia: we told you last month about an 8-year-old boy who is a danger to himself and his family. He has autism. When the story aired, we were promised an interview with the provincial minister in charge of the ontario autism program. We were given four minutes. It's not nearly enough time to cover a complex and difficult discussion about children with such extreme needs, but we tried. >> No. Hey, hey. >> It's dangerous to be with him alone. It's hard. It's really hard. >> Mason! Stop. >> Cynthia: mason only just started receiving provincial funding after being on a wait list for five years. His mother has been desperate for help. >> [ Shouting ] >> Cynthia: her son has ripped chunks of her hair out, broken her nose twice and broken his grandmother's ribs. They are in crisis. >> What do we need? Krou needs-based therapy! >> The Crowd: needs-based therapy. >> Cynthia: the ford government has faced intense criticism for its handling of the autism file. Critics say the wait list for core services has more than doubled since it came to power but it should be noted. I want to start this interview by fully acknowledging your government has doubled the funding for autism and you're spending more than any other government in provincial history. However, will you acknowledge there are still flaws and cracks? >> We have as you know the program itself that we have put together. It's more than doubled now. >> Cynthia: will you acknowledge families like mason's are falling through the cracks? >> Whenever there are unique situations there's got to be unique solutions for it. That's why we have partners on the ground in each community. The work force capacity. >> Cynthia: but it's failed. In this case it has definitely failed. The minister is quick to point out that the government has expanded services. >> As you know right now it isn't just A.B.A. or core clinical service. Families have multiple streams that can access whether it's urgent response or entry to school or caregiver program. >> Cynthia: "CityNews" asked just how many children are actively receiving core clinical services. The answer we received in a statement was, "tens of thousands have received support," which doesn't answer the question advocates have been trying to get an answer to. Mason lives in the owen sound area. His mother says resources are strained and virtually impossible to access. Mason's mother sent me some questions. Why the urgent response program? Why do you have to reply why do you have to reapply when you're in crisis? So she has to constantly reapply for services and sometimes there's a gap. >> There are local challenges and that's what I said to you with the local capacity grant that we've offered now to local communities. If there are -- those are the ones we want to look at. >> Cynthia: I think she would argue that she's -- oh, come on. That's four minutes? Can't you give me a couple more? There are so many more questions. I did get a couple more questions in, but did not get any more clarity. Mason's mother tells us her son has not had his meds updated in five years since he was just 3 years old. She's just been told he needs to be an inpatient before they can be adjusted so he can be monitored. The wait list for that program is up to a year and she's not sure she can last that long. Since we first told you about mason, she's had to go to hospital again for a serious injury during an outburst. >> Kyle: it's kyle hocking airborne. This is the the gardiner right near exhibition place where the elevated portion's starting to come down as part of the long-term rehabilitation. You can see the bridge is gone. They're rebuilding this section of the gardiner basically. Traffic's been shifted onto the north side of the bridge to accommodate. One of the alternates that you may choose to get around that gardiner construction and the delays we've all been treated to the last few weeks would be king street just to the north, though, there's a closure on king street east of dufferin and this is for T.T.C. track installation so maybe not the best planning here but roads blocked off. Only local traffic's allowed so you can see most vehicles are being detoured through this area and this should be in place until the beginning of next month and then the roadway will fully reopen. Get your D.I.Y. on during the get ready for summer sale at home hardware with deals on paint and power tools only until june 5th. >> Announcer: next on "CityNews" -- >> I love it. They're my favourite -- my favourite moment. >> Lindsay: blue jays pitcher yusei kikuchi breaks

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